DYING TO LIVE

 

My mom always told me that she believed death would be glorious and that it would be an amazing experience to enter heaven and hear Jesus say "welcome home".

Ten days ago she heard Him say those words to her in person.

My mom had not been well for a while and had been moved to the Frail Care Centre at the Retirement Home she had been living in for the past 2 years.  My sister and I popped in for a visit on Thursday morning the 11^th July and knew immediately that she was dying.  She acknowledged us with a smile and after about an hour of us being there she looked around the room at my sister, myself and 2 nurse aides who were also in the room at the time and very clearly said “I love you all very much”. After that she started to drift in and out of sleep.

My husband went to fetch our three girls from home (it was school holidays) and brought them to her room.  What an amazing time that was.  Our retired minister, Bill and his wife Mary, were also there and we stood and listened and watched as these 3 girls sat on her bed, holding her hands and speaking about the memories that she had made with them - ’remember the time Ouma when…’  or ‘it was so much fun Ouma when we went to…..’

There was a lot of laughter especially when one of our daughters looked around the room at all the people present and said “Well, ouma, you certainly are getting a really good send off” and then added “and you are leaving the world well populated”.  My mom loved just being with her grandchildren and listening to them talk and she often repeated to other family members and friends things they had said.  I could just imagine her saying to Jesus later "and did You hear that wonderful comment about me having a "really good send off"!?

Each girl then said goodbye.  They hugged and kissed her, told her that they loved her and would miss her.

Bill read a scripture to her and prayed and we could see that she was aware of what was happening around her.  Everyone left and it was just my sister and I in the room with her until my brother arrived from Namibia at 4.30.  He had caught the 1:00 o’clock flight from Walvis Bay to Cape Town.

As he sat down beside her and took her hand she opened her eyes and spoke to him.  We could not make out the words she was saying but knew that she recognized him  and was at peace that he was there with her.

After that she did not open her eyes again.  The three of us stayed with her.  Every now and again one of us would pray or read a Psalm or just talk quietly.  There was an incredible sense of peace in the room .  My mom died at 6.40 that evening and about 10 minutes before her spirit left her body my brother knelt on the floor took her in his arms and committed her to the Lord giving thanks for her life.

The sms message that I sent to family and friends a little while afterwards simply stated “my mom is in His Presence” because that is exactly where she was.  At home with her Lord, hearing Him say “welcome home, my child”.

My mother believed totally and absolutely in the words that Jesus had spoken whilst He was here on earth “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.  I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live” (John 5:24 & 25).  My mom is alive with Christ.

Trevor Hudson once said “...if our deepest confidence is in the God who raised Jesus from the dead, then our sadness will not be trapped in hopelessness and despair.  We will be able to grieve with hope”.

 

I want to end with the words that one of her grandsons wrote about her:

"Don't despair at the ending  of life, rejoice at a life well lived and enjoyed.  A life that touched others, that helped nurture others and that helped change the world, even in a small way."